"You're married?!"
"I've been married for eight years," Rob replied.
"Well, you've got to break up with her!"
He threw his head back and laughed. "Good one."
"It's not a joke!"
"Listen," he said. "I'm letting you stay at my place. Keep your demands under control." He could barely finish that sentence without another fit of chuckles.
Monika was aghast at this whole situation. This was not how it was supposed to happen. She didn't mind that he was clearly much older than she had imagined, with numerous streaks of gray in both his hair and his beard, but there was not supposed to be another woman for her to compete with. But what had she expected? She was forced to acknowledge to herself that she hadn't thought much about what he would be like. Getting out of the game was the most important thing and on that note, he had come through for her. It had only been a couple of hours and she hoped things would make more sense eventually. Once they arrived at his house, she was a little underwhelmed by that as well.
"I know it's not much compared to those fancy townhouses from the game," Rob said, as if reading her mind. "But it's got more room that you might think."
They walked inside and he kicked off his boots. Monika looked down and remembered she only had one shoe. Her nylons were in rough shape after trudging through that snow.
"I'll get you some socks," Rob said, walking into another room. In the meantime, she peeled off the nylons and was mortified when they started dripping on the floor. He returned with a pair of white socks. "These will be a little big on you but hopefully comfortable."
"I'm really sorry about the mess!" she blurted out. "I can still stay here, right?"
"Of course you can," he replied quickly. "This is nothing." He reached for a towel that was hanging on the coat rack behind her and dropped it on top of the small puddle.
"We keep this out in the winter because it's always getting wet by the door. The boys track all sorts of ice and snow around the house."
Monika's ears perked up. "You have kids too?!"
"Yeah, two of them."
She shook her head in disbelief. What had she gotten herself into? As she pulled on the socks, Rob caught notice of her fraught expression.
"Listen...that thing about the homeless shelter, I didn't mean that. I would never have gone through with it. It was just me being a little chickenshit because I'm nervous about what my wife will say."
"I really appreciate you saying that," Monika said. She watched him take something out of his jacket pocket and flinched. It was a knife. No, more like a dagger.
"Oh, this?" Rob asked. "You didn't sign your note so I took that with me in case someone was waiting to ambush me or something." He pulled down a small box and placed it inside and then returned the box to the top of what looked like his computer desk.
"Do you collect knives? Like Yuri?"
"A little bit," he answered. "Don't worry, I don't use them on myself like she does. I got this one at some funky shop in Quebec City. They call it an assassin's dagger. Wouldn't mind breaking it in on Natsuki's dad."
Monika smiled in relief. Hearing him reference the game gave her some reassurance that this really was the person she remembered.
"Anyway, I have some chores to do before I pick up the boys. But first, I'll show you to your room."
She followed him downstairs into the basement. She was expecting something grimy but the whole basement was finished and was basically another floor of the house. There was a large flat-screen television with some video game systems below it. What looked like plastic instruments sat to the right of it.
"If you want to play some games, you're welcome to. The bedroom is over here."
She went through a doorway to the left and saw a bed leaning against the wall. There was also a desk and wardrobe nearby. Rob knelt down and began cleaning up the toys that were strewn across the floor.
"Sorry about this," he said. "Nobody has stayed here for a while so we got a little behind on keeping it tidy. There's also a bathroom down here. It's got a sink and shower and everything. We use the one upstairs, so you'll have it all to yourself."
Monika walked into the bathroom and marveled that this would all be for her.
"It's wonderful, thank you."
He seemed pleased to have company, which was a nice change from the reluctance he had shown earlier. She wanted to take him in her arms again but realized now that she had come on too strong. She would have to bide her time.
"Well, make yourself comfortable. I'll be upstairs."
She wasn't sure what he expected her to do. She had no luggage to unpack or clothes to put away. She took a moment to lay back on the bed. If she rested long enough, she would probably be out like a light. Coming through that dimensional rip into this freezing place called Connecticut had taken a lot out of her, but she didn't want to sleep. Not yet. She walked upstairs to find Rob washing dishes in the sink.
"So are you like a stay at home Dad?"
"Kind of," he answered, sounding a little nervous, "I work part-time two days a week. I had a full-time job for a long time but I left when the boys were born. I haven't had anything steady since, just small things that come and go."
"I'm not judging," Monika said. "A person's worth isn't just tied to how much money they produce. I bet you're a good father."
He stopped washing dishes and looked at her. "Thanks."
Monika grinned as he returned to his work. That comment had really gotten her some points. Before long, it was time to pick up his kids. They drove together to the elementary school and Rob instructed her to wait in the car. A few minutes later, he was walking back with a small child holding each hand. Once they were closer, she realized they were twins!
"This is Andrew and Lucas," Rob said as he opened the car door. "Boys, this is…uh, Daddy's friend Monika. Say hi."
"I want to see the yellow bus," one of them said.
He chuckled. "I tried."
After buckling the twins into special seats, they made the short drive back to the house. Once the boys entered, the chaos that unfolded was unlike anything Monika could have imagined. They were running, jumping and climbing all over the place as toys began to litter the floors. Did Rob clean this up every day? She struggled to keep up with the activity as they moved from room to room.
"Andrew, get off the counter."
"No more crackers, save room for dinner."
"Lucas, we don't play with the microwave."
"I need chocolate milk, Daddy!"
Eventually, she determined that Andrew was wearing the red shirt and Lucas was wearing the blue one. Unfortunately, tomorrow they would be wearing something different and it would be back to square one. She was charmed by their sweet little faces but unnerved by the destruction they had wrought in just a few minutes. She wondered how Rob reconciled those two feelings, but before she had a chance to think about it further her legs flew out from under her and she landed hard on the floor.
"Ow! I think I broke my butt-bone!" Monika looked around and saw that she had stepped on several marbles.
"Oh shit, sorry!" Rob said when he saw her.
"Oh shit!" Lucas repeated.
"Gotta watch where you're walking around here," he said. He offered his hand to help her stand back up. Her heart skipped a beat when she took it. She almost fell over again when he abruptly let go. The front door was opening and a short (not as short as Natsuki but shorter than Monika) woman walked through. She had dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders and a face that seemed very expressive. Maybe it was just because she hadn't seen her children all day.
"Boys, Momma's home!" Rob called out.
"Where are my sweet boys?" The twins rushed out and their mother knelt down to embrace them.
"Oh shit, Momma!" Andrew called out.
She looked up at her husband with a raised eyebrow. "Again, Rob?"
Rob didn't have anything to say for himself. She finally noticed Monika standing nearby.
"Hi, I'm Kate," she said hesitantly.
"Monika."
Kate set her bags down by the couch and walked into the kitchen. Rob followed her while the boys went back to playing. Monika moved to just around the corner of the wall so she could eavesdrop.
"So is she staying for dinner?" Kate asked.
"Yeah," Rob answered. "Um…she needs a place to stay tonight too."
"What?" Kate tried to lower her voice but Monika could still hear. "Who is she? Why is she dressed like that in the middle of winter? And what is she doing with your socks? She doesn't have any of her own?"
"No, actually." Rob said sheepishly. "Look, she's a friend who I met…online a while back and she reached out to me this morning and told me she was in the area."
Monika was impressed. That was all actually pretty close to the truth.
"I guess she can stay," Kate said. "But we need to talk about this more later. Let's start getting dinner together."
As she started to go through the refrigerator, Rob noted "she's a vegetarian."
Monika was touched. He remembered! Although avoiding the meat dishes from the Chinese restaurant had probably reminded him. Not long afterward, they were all sitting at the table. Rob and Kate had made a large salad with chicken, although they had put aside a bowl of just regular salad for her. Andrew and Lucas alternated between eating their food and "driving" their utensils along the table like vehicles. She had learned that Kate was a pastor at a church in the next town, which explained why she had started the meal by saying grace.
Finally, she asked the question Monika had been nervous about. "What do you do?"
"Well," she answered, doing her best to sound genuine. "I've spent the last few years studying literature in Japan. Around the time my program ended, things…went wrong. I was evicted and I didn't have anywhere to go. I'm so thankful that Rob agreed to pick me up from the airport."
"What about your parents?" Kate asked.
"I never knew my parents. I…um…grew up in foster homes. Maybe I could have tried to go back to one of them, but I'm not a kid anymore and it just seemed strange."
"I see," she said skeptically. Monika hoped that would be enough to placate her for a while. If not, that assassin's dagger was right on top of Rob's desk.
Wait a minute, what was she thinking? That kind of impulse was the reason Rob had deleted her in the first place. She shook her head, trying to dispel these thoughts.
"You okay?" he asked. She nodded.
Getting the kids ready for bed turned out to be quite an involved routine. Feeling uncomfortable after dinner, Monika stayed out of everyone's way and began to peruse the bookshelf in her room downstairs. When things quieted down, she reasoned the twins had finally gone to sleep. Tomorrow it would start all over again. She couldn't wrap her head around it. Sure the kids were cute, but why would anyone subject themselves to this?
Rob walked downstairs carrying a bulky white blanket. "It's going to be cold tonight and I wasn't sure you had enough bedding."
"Thanks," she smiled. "By the way, I was impressed with how you explained everything when she first got home. That was some quick thinking!"
He let out a brief chuckle. "Well, omitting certain details is a good way to stay out of trouble without having to actually lie. That's Rob's Marriage Tip of the Day."
With a coy grin, she leaned forward and held her hands behind her back.
"Listen," he continued. "Kate can be uptight and she might act put out, but she's a good Christian. She won't throw you out as long as you don't do anything crazy."
"Are you a Christian too?"
"Not really. I consider myself an agnostic, but I like her church. It's a nice community. Good night, Monika."
"Goodnight." Was a goodnight kiss too much to hope for? Probably. She let herself fall into her new bed. Her mind could have gone in any number of directions after this whirlwind of a day, but it kept returning to something he had said to her in the car.
"You don't even know me."
It was true. How could she have walked out into his world expecting a fairy tale ending without knowing anything about him? That would change. She could already sense that even though he had a family to call his own, there was still some sort of loneliness within him. She would get to know him. Then maybe he would love her.
